Nov. 21, 2004: Groh's belief system on display in Atlanta

Dave FairbankDaily Press

Al Groh coaches football in the here and now. Maybe it's his age. Maybe it's from 14 years spent in the shark tank of the NFL.

Whatever the reason, Virginia's coach does what he thinks will help his team win today, this week, this season, right now. Doesn't matter if it's starting a freshman cornerback in the second half of the season against the best teams in the country, or taking the redshirt off of a kid in the 10th game of the year.

The Cavaliers' 30-10 crunch job against Georgia Tech not only provided a lengthy list of praiseworthy elements, but also a window into the thinking of the CEO of Virginia's football organization.

Aside from an NFL analogy for every occasion, there is a sense of immediacy normally reserved for someone with the job security of a South Carolina textile worker.

"Some of you guys are obsessed with this redshirt thing," Groh said. "I'm obsessed with winning. We're going to use every resource available to us to win a game. Who knows when we're going to be back in this position again? If a guy can help us win a game, hey, who knows how that game would have gone without him?"

In this instance, "him" was punter Chris Gould, a promising freshman who had not played a down this season. The Cavaliers' punting has lacked all season and cost them dearly in the previous week's loss to Miami.

Hence, Groh decided to make a change. Now, to credit the punter in a game Virginia clearly dominated is a stretch. But Groh wasn't finished with his point.

"When you have players who can help you win," he said, "and the other players look around and the coach isn't using guys who can help them win a game, the other players think, 'Hey, the coach is asking us to lay it on the line, but he's not doing the same thing.'"

So there you have it. That's why you saw Gould on Saturday and why you've seen freshman cornerback Philip Brown all season, even in critical situations against Miami and in the crucible that is Tallahassee against Florida State.

Everything else you saw versus Georgia Tech wasn't nearly so dogmatic. More like sound football and playing to your strengths.

Virginia quarterback Marques Hagans isn't the biggest guy in the world, so the offensive coaches called more plays that allowed him to roll out from sideline to sideline to take advantage of his nimble feet and to make throws on the run.

"I think early on, Coach called some things to get me outside the pocket and get movement early, so I just tried to establish a rhythm and get going," Hagans said. "I really appreciate that. He gave me an opportunity to get out and make some decisions on the edge."

Said Groh: "Obviously, I don't mean just from a height standpoint, but he's not going to be Peyton Manning in the pocket. He's not going to stand there."

(See what we mean about the NFL analogies?)

On defense, the Cavaliers called more blitzes than usual and made Yellow Jackets quarterback Reggie Ball uncomfortable.

Virginia finished with six sacks, at least that many hurries and intercepted him twice in the end zone.

"We felt like we had to make it hard for him to operate," Groh said, "not make it an easy day where he could step in and take aim at his targets. Our pass rushers had a good game."

The Cavaliers had favorable field position most of the afternoon, in part due to the punting and special teams. All in all, a nice antidote to the previous week's effort against the Hurricanes.

Virginia heads to Blacksburg next Saturday with a chance for nine regular season wins, which has not been done since 1998. If Groh thinks he can get there by asking a freshman to stand on his head in the end zone, he's likely to do it.